Perspectives in Berlin

Berlin’s Cemeteries

Berlin’s Cemeteries

Death is a certainty for every living organism. But when someone important dies, every culture chooses different ways to honor each death. When you enter a place like New York City, you will see a cemetery of thousands of people that lived and the past and are now dead. When you go to a place like Arlington, in Virginia, you can find a cemetery of deceased war veterans. Germany is similar in the way that they honor important figures who contributed to their society. There are subtleties that make their customs different and separate themselves from other countries.

The Biggest Jewish Cemetery in Europe

One of the most important cemeteries is in the district of Weißensee. This cemetery honors over 100,000 Jews that died in the Holocaust. Many people in all countries have heard about the Holocaust, but having a place that shows their name gives them a different respect that they wouldn’t get in a history book. It is also one of the most beautiful graveyards that anyone will see. This one is the biggest Jewish cemetery that you will find in Europe. Recently, this location was submitted to be selected into UNSECO’s world heritage sites.

The Friedrichsfelde Central Cemetery

In Lichtenberg, you will find two very important socialists in Germany’s history. These people are Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg. Today, you can see their graves and others that were important to that era of politics. It is officially known as the Friedrichsfelde Central Cemetery, but some call it the Socialists’ cemetery. The people that manage the cemetery offered the Berlin Turkish community. However, the Turkish community complained that they were running out of space to bury people. In the future, there will be cemeteries for Muslims. With them, time will tell when the space to bury people is going to run out for them.

Cemeteries for Minorities

The German government has been dealing with problems like this since 2006. The space for the Christian Germans had a lot of extra space. This has resulted in other communities that may feel underrepresented to get people to remember their names. They serve as a place so that historians in the future can accurately talk about the people that lived in Germany. However, this has led to some minorities groups arguing over who should get more space. Even though it’s good that Germany is representing their community, there are going to be problems with space, especially in Berlin.

Cemetery for Atheists

One of the positives of Germany is that they have done a great job of representing their communities in modern times. They have usually been tolerant of different political backgrounds, nationalities and religions. There is even a cemetery for atheists. This is back when atheism was looked down upon heavily among most of the world. Some of these cemeteries even have playgrounds to distract the children from the names. This is a very important thing to do regardless of how much others like or dislike certain figures. Someone’s existence can show what a time period used to be like.